The present invention relates to fluid valves and, in particular, to medical stopcock valves.
Small plastic stopcock valve assemblies have long been used routinely in a variety of medical procedures and operations such as, for example, metering the infusion of fluids into the bodies of persons under medical care. Typically, such stopcock valve assemblies include at least a three-way type valve wherein the valve body has three or more radially-arranged ports, and an interior directional control member is rotatably arranged within the valve body for selectively closing one or more ports while opening communication between at least two other ports. Examples of this type of valve are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,185,179; 3,834,372 and 4,207,923.
As will of course be understood, the maintenance of sterile conditions in such uses of these valves is exceedingly important. Accordingly, when one of the valve ports is closed and out of use, a cap or other similar closure device is ordinarily fitted in the valve port to prevent possible entrance therethrough of bacteria, germs or the like into the valve body. In the typical use of such valves, it is often desirable or necessary to alter the operational disposition of the valve to bring into operation the out-of-use port which of course requires the removal of the cap therefrom. For example, in infusion usage of such a valve, it is routine procedure to periodically sample and test the infusion fluid flowing through the valve and/or the body fluid to maintain close control thereof, this being readily accomplished by removing the cap from the out-of-use port and rotating the directional control member to divert a small quantity of the infusion fluid or to withdraw a small quantity of the body fluid through the out-of-use port. Ordinarily any such procedure requires the attendant performing it to use both hands necessitating the cap be placed aside and, in practice, the cap, which is normally very small, is sometimes lost or temporarily misplaced, all of which can create particular problems when the valve is to be returned to its original operational disposition and the cap is to be replaced. As will be understood, the mere setting aside of the cap in itself can jeopardize the sterility thereof and of the valve upon replacement of the cap and, if the procedure requires any significant amount of time to complete, it is ordinary practice to discard the removed caps and to replace it with a new cap when the valve is returned to its original operating state. However, additionally, the loss or misplacement of the cap neessitates that the valve, upon return to its original operating state, be operated at least temporarily without a cap on the out-of-use port until the lost or misplaced cap is located or a replacement cap is obtained, which poses a more significant problem in maintaining the desired sterile condition of the valve.
The present invention provides a significant improvement over the above-described conventional stopcocks by providing a blind accessory member on the valve adapted to receive and store one or more caps when out of use to prevent loss thereof and provide ready access thereto for use when desired.